Topic: D Smith Tigercat build?

Thanks, got one ordered 
Johan

Got her off the board today...


She's quite a handful, I was surprised how light she was, so I put her on the scales..740g  That gives an estimate of a tad over 2000g for the complete fuse, which gives me 4000g for the wing & nacelles, this is good 

  Johan

  WOW
Thats looking well smart , interesting to note the weight as well its not going to be as heavy as originally anticipated then ?
And  you can get it out of the basement !
Nice one Johan

Shane

  jusus boet.....GROOT....... looking good man..... ....

WOW
Thats looking well smart , interesting to note the weight as well its not going to be as heavy as originally anticipated then ?

Shane

Don't be so sure !..................very early weight calculations to me don't mean a lot........................my B26 fuz, completely sheeted and glassed is a tad over 9lb, not bad for a 9 1/2 ft long, 17" dia fuz....................but latest weight calulations look as though I'll have to work hard to keep her under 65/70lb !

Looks V cool though Johan.....nice and 'curvy' !

Phil

65/70lbs phil  and I thought I had problems with 25 

The cat is coming along fine....but I agree with phil..theres a long way to go regarding weight. Do you have a colour scheme yet?

65/70lbs phil  and I thought I had problems with 25 

Yea...........but remember I do have over twice your wing area, and 2 big drafty things which are a lot more efficient than 1 !

..............the C47 came out at 130lb dead.................scary enough !?!?!?!? 

Phil

Hi guys. You're all right about weight...it's hard to estimate and a scary subject, right now I'm concentrating on getting the rear as light as possible, there's a lot to do as the plan leaves everything open, to be honnest, a bit into the build I'm quite happy that DS hasn't made any constructions for the radio gear as it gives the builder every opportunity to do it "right" :ww I've ordered new wood and chucked a lot of the supplied extremely heavy balsa , I have also built a fuse jig to be able to build the second fuse half onto the first having the fuse stuck in a position where I easily can get to everything and install stab,rudder with radio gear without moving the fuse.

Tx buddy system from SM- services has been ordered all the servos and pull/pull, push rod bits has landed.

The Colours will be of the DX one as the documentation is at hand for that one (It feels right to do that one as it's responsible for my obsession with TC's)

I'll post some pic's tonight of the progress.

  Johan

Keep em coming..............

Hi, some pic's as promised. First a pair of the fuse jig made of AL-extrusions that I use for making grippers to pick out the moulded parts from my injection moulding machines, very sturdy stuff.


The other side. This way I can get to every part of the fuse without moving it, due to the size and the smallish workshop this is kind of necessary, the other reason is that it keeps the fuse straight and as I've had the fuse watered in level, I can use the water level to get the wing and stab right.


Here's a bad pic of the extrusion and the mounting element


I started to do a stab half, It's kind of weird when you know that you are doing a stab and it looks as if you were doing a wing


I found out that there are high torque servos and there are BIG high torque servos... It was like opening a box of assorted chocolates The big fat ones(18kg) are for the elevator and rudder, the four more normal sized high torque ones(9kg) are for the flaps and the two (5,9kg) are for the ailerons, the rest are for the non control surfaces functions(3,1kg)
Many servos there were  


The two fat servos will go into the fuse up front with pull/pull system as opposed to the presider of putting three servos at the rear end where I fear the most minute weight gain as the arm of momentum is huge on the TC.

I'll do the servo and pull/pull installation prior to planking the fuse.

  Johan

Your not worried about stalling the Elev & Rudder servos then !! :ww........................we have 18kg on the tail wheel of the C47, and it stears it around with ease.......................good choices though, better to be safe than sorry.

Love the vertical jig.................nice idea, and great access to all areas.

Phil

Hi Johan, just found your thread.

Didn´t realize that the scalemodeling section was under "in focus".

See that you have gotten along well there 
Gonna be a cracker !

How did it work out with the mufflers (if you have any)?

This is gonna be interesting.

Great Job 

Peter

Hi guys. Not much done this week-end as we had a "field day"  :ww Hard work, I'm still knacked. I got some formers in on the right hand side but I have to cut the retract bearer and get it into place before the last front formers can go in. I'm at a point where I feel that I have to be very careful what I do and in what order as the prospect of having to dig back in the construction is scary.
This is the ultra high impact ply for the retract bearers, just look at the number of ply 

This is the fuse today.


I got hold of the thickest Si cable that'll fit into the servo plugs 0,5mm2 (compaired to the rx to rx-buddy cables from SMS) you have to bear in mind that the amount of amps that the fat digi servos are sucking is quite substantial.


Well you all know this little fellow from Phil's C-47 build but I thought that my aim is high enough to justify this investment, it's like Phil said before: -this is as safe as you can get with RC equipment today.. And on the whole it's just a pi55 in the ocean money wise.


I'll aim to get the nose gear in this week and will report of the progress as it happends.
  Johan

Your not worried about stalling the Elev & Rudder servos then !! :ww........................we have 18kg on the tail wheel of the C47, and it stears it around with ease.......................good choices though, better to be safe than sorry.

Love the vertical jig.................nice idea, and great access to all areas.

Phil

   As you can see I've got a bit worried about the amps... The jig... I love it too, very conveneant. I shouldn't take the credit for it as I got the idea from the yanks in the "other" forum.


Peter, I intend to make a try to do a sort of tuned length muffler as I have the necessary volume in my 1 gallon buckets for cowls, Toni Clark states that a 30% increase in power is possible by doing this. It'll be a nice st/st artistery   
  Johan

Nice ply Johan....................where from ??, what thickness ??, and HOW MUCH

Phil

Hi

Surely you can´t be low on power with a standard muffler on your engine choice ..

Although stainless will present a good challenge (and look gooood too)!

Will follow this with interest as I will need to do the same thing with my Komet later on .


I´m no expert on construction but does the fuse really need that many formers, evenly spread ?
I understand for the need around the wing but could not the tail do without some ?


BTW how do you like the half shell fuse construction ?

Phil. That ply is from a Swedish saw mill that has specialized in hobby wood and therefor call them self so "hobby trä" it's way up north. The piece I got is 8" x 20" and 3/8" thick (10mm) priced £9 it's rock solid like a piece of thick steel and very heavy, has to be used with a bit of thought but on the other hand the fuse will brake in two before the nose gear comes out.
The plan is to cut(saw) a framework that will distribute the stress from the nosegear to five formers and all planking in that area. I think it'll be a lot better than the two 3/8" sqr. hardwood bearers that DS wanted hanging in the middle of nowhere.

Peter, I agree that the pair of SG 26 would be sufficient but I put a pipe on an other engine and there was a significant overall improvement, I also tried a TIG weld on the muffler for my Tiger-moth and it was amazing what welds I manage to produce in st/st with that thing so it's more of a bashing for the sake of bashing than anything else.

If you look closely at a TC you'll see that it's an endless combination of compound curves so every former is really needed if it should look right.

The way of building the fuse in a half and then add the half formers on the opposite side is rather nice as one can put in bearers, trays aso. as one please with a minimum of effort, I'm quite happy with it.

Currently my work is killing me, got production up to a staggering average of 123,8h a week and machine with only 40h of those manned, I just got a new machine in to get the order back log down but we won't see the effect of that for some time, this have a severe impact on my modeling as I'm completely knacked when I get home these days. It's a work & sleep only situation right now.

I'll be back in a week or so.
  Johan

  It;s looking real good Johan ,

I'll be back in a week or so.
 Johan

You will be missed mate but we will expect loads of progress when you get back 

what is it that you do (jobwise ) ?

Shane

Good job Johan, don't let the work wear you out  :ww

Phil. That ply is from a Swedish saw mill that has specialized in hobby wood and therefor call them self so "hobby trä" it's way up north. The piece I got is 8" x 20" and 3/8" thick (10mm) priced £9 it's rock solid like a piece of thick steel and very heavy, has to be used with a bit of thought but on the other hand the fuse will brake in two before the nose gear comes out.
The plan is to cut(saw) a framework that will distribute the stress from the nosegear to five formers and all planking in that area. I think it'll be a lot better than the two 3/8" sqr. hardwood bearers that DS wanted hanging in the middle of nowhere.

Too right.................much better idea, it's identical to what I've got in the B26..............it also had hardwood bearers bonded to 'not a lot'.............a decent ply mount boxed in, and spreading the load as far into the fuz as possible is the way to go..................

C U in a week or so.....................don't work 2 hard !

phil

Managed to nip a few minutes between work and bed  I just fill you in on what the heck is going on, about 5 years ago I quit my job as a sales manager in the plastic heavy machinery business and started an injection moulding company showed in all the cash I had and got massive loans got the machinery needed and started off whit the idea that the machines should work all hourors in the week and only 40 out of 168 h should be manned this called for robots got some customers in the automotive industry and got into thermoplastic elastomeres (plastic that looks and feels like rubber) this evolved into a nice niche got some more customers outside the automotive business. Last year in Aug. I hired a production manager and I could consentrate on getting new customeres, after that it all took off.. got two more machines, built a new plant, sold halve of the company to my biggest customer, doubled the turnover in 3 months and right now I'm on the edge of a couple of deadlines with SAAB that's why I have to roll up the sleeves and dig in like a maniac for a couple of days. But no worries this is nothing compaired with the first couple of years when I had to work without pay and had the bank at my throat all the time, the plan is to blow this operation up to 4-5 millions and do an exit in 5-8 years time and concentrate on more important things, yeah you guessed it building and flying   

Back soon more eager to build than ever..
  Johan

Hmmm, I guess you can build more than models Johan  Good job and good luck with the SAAB deadline.

Thanks Selleri, after tomorrow I hope that I can do something more pleasant  I did manage to hack away on the nose gear bearer this evening
Everything is prepaired so I can get the gear in after cutting up the planking when the fuse is done, This is the tricky part with building from a plan, you really have to think through your strategy before you get too far into planking or sheeting as the plan offers no help in getting things done in the right sequence, especially if you reconstruct things the way most people do including myself.


Here it is in place, I'll add some tri stock against the planking to increase the area of the epoxy, interestingly the weight of the bearer is still 103g after all cut outs  but on the other hand it's sturdy as h***, I just hope that it's worth the weight 


I've yet to decide wether I'm going to do some planking,  or if I'm doing the stab first and get it in so I can do the pull/pull and servo installation. The fuse is very narrow so everthing that goes in must be done before the planking is finished but some planking is needed to get everything in the right spot  hmmm kind of a dilemma... Guess I'll have another dram and sit and look at it for a bit longer...
  Johan

 
well done Johan  its looking great ,
and after reading my plans time after time I appreciate what you are saying .
I'm sort of writing an instruction manual in my head and it changes daily 
Good luck with the build and the work situation mate

Shane

p.s  you want any work help   I used to work in the plastics industry  and if i get a hols soon i,ll come over

Loads of gluing area for minumal weight....exactly what ya want.....looks good to me Johan. Just a shame to cut up so much of that lovely ply U had !!

Phil

Thumbs up mate 

Pain isn´t, with a narrow fuse.

Perhaps that is why the Jug is so popular 

/Peter

Thank's for the encouragement lads  Final appearance approval test tomorrow for the SAAB parts.
I did decide to do the stab assy before planking the fuse and the stab was built in two halves that were glued togeateher... turned out extremely stiff but a bit on the heavy side (260g)




DS and I have a different idea of how the control surfaces should be done...


Quite diffrent to how Grumman did it too

After I re drew it I cut a 1/8 hard balsa sheet for the outline and marked the ribs, if you let the markings on the plan run out side the outline it's easier to get it drawn onto the sheet

Flipped it over and did the same on the other side, then I cut out as much of the sheet as possible as it don't do any good at all, just dead weight, it turned out pretty well just 1 1/2 oz a piece

The elevators will be covered in silk & dope and some strips will be added to simulate the taped stiching
Just to clearify what I'm doing for a living this is my production hall with injection moulding machines



Hopefully I'll get the Glennis whees  and some UP valves next week and the SAAB thing will be done by then, so there's hope for some serious building the comming weeks   :ww
  Johan

  I forgot, I did one of those too, just to get a feel for the shape of things to come  :ww


  Johan

Wow, a 100 " model doesn´t look that big to me after all..
Are U sure the zg26:s are strong enough to swing those 3 blade props..

Nice work Johan. I hope too that you get some more building time in !

  Probably the usuall mix up with metric and imp. units  :ww
  Johan

Must be, 1 foot eq. 1 cm .. right ??

Hi everybody, it's been a while, it's horrible how work interferes with the important things in life  I found a box on the doorstep again with some interesting contents:

The scale wheels from Glennis showed up after 8 weeks delivery time... Now I really have to drill every thing out My goodness are they heavy 


I got the brakes as well
 

Here you can see the inflatable rubber cussion that gives the pressure on the brake disc that works onto the rim


I also got the UP-4 and UP-2 valves, very clever sequencer valves to control gear and all doors whitch is quite an operation on the Tigercat as the main doors stays open when the gear is down but the small doors for the nose gear closes when the gear is down.

I also got a couple of bag fulls of different hinges air lines, bottles and wing tube & sleeves.
It seems like I'm running out of reasons not to get this bird together now  I really hope that I get left alone from work and Mrs for a little while now   
Johan

Hi Johan , If you dont mind me asking , how much were the wheels? and are those the CJM retracts? They sure look nice and strong .
Shane

Hi Shane. The Pricing is just like a good kit $445 with brakes and valves and yes the retracts are CJM's, sturdy stuff and a good start for making real scale gears, you should talk to Phil for a quote for something that would fit your B29.
  Johan

  keep going ...looks awsome so  :affar !

sweet wheels ! 

I did warn you they were heavy Johan................look V sweet though. And 8 weeks for Glennis is VERY fast, I waited over 4 months for the B26 wheels 

Phil

I did warn you they were heavy Johan................look V sweet though. And 8 weeks for Glennis is VERY fast, I waited over 4 months for the B26 wheels 

Phil

I'm going to dismantle the wheels, as I think that the tires are solid molded PUR, got to be a way of machine out the most of it and fill it with building foam that has a density of allmost nothing.
Re. Delivery time... I wonder what you said to Dennis to make him "forget" your order for so long   :ww
  Johan

Hi Everyone!
I had  some time in the dungeons and got the stab finished, the elevator hinged, just need to fix the tips and it's time to mount the stab in the fuse. I have to do this before I can sheet the right hand side of the fuse as the servo and pull/pull installation would be a real pain after the sheeting is on.



To be able to get the pull/pull installed at the right place I have to have a rudder and get it hinged, as you can see below DS and I still don't agree on the control surfaces appearances at all, I've done a construction that is more to my liking and also will be pretty scale like when covered.



I hope to be able to put in some time in the build over the week end.. till then
  Johan

I'm going to dismantle the wheels, as I think that the tires are solid molded PUR, got to be a way of machine out the most of it and fill it with building foam that has a density of allmost nothing.
Re. Delivery time... I wonder what you said to Dennis to make him "forget" your order for so long   :ww
  Johan

Johan.

If you manage to lighten your Glennis wheels by machining away the insides of the tyres, I'll send you my B-26 Glennis wheels, and you can have a go at them as well.....................sounds good.

Phil